Forces Upon Civilizations
Throughout all of western civilization, cultural, economic, political, and social forces have had the most influence on history. These forces easily outweigh what a single person could do in their lifetime. It is true that many times a single person has lead these forces, but it was the force itself that influenced the times, not the will of the person. The rise and fall of the Rome was a major force in history. The Roman Empire was a mighty kingdom that incorporated many different cultures and peoples. It brought together groups of people who never even knew of each other prior to it. It allowed ideas, belief's, and ways of life to diffuse to many different people. It had a lasting influence even on civilizations today. In no way could a single person organization such an event. A single person could not bring together all these different cultures and peoples, and unite them under one rule. Even after Rome fell, many of its traits were adopted by other civilizations. Roman architecture for example, influenced architecture of the middle ages, and it also can be seen today in government buildings. The Roman Empire also left behind was the law of the great jurist. This law became incorporated with the Code of Justinian
, which has influenced the American legal system. Even the formation and organization of the Catholic Church was taken from the structure of the Roman Empire. Finally, and probably the most important of the Roman contributions to the future, was the diffusion of the Greek civilization to Western Europe. This helped to counterweight the effects of Greek ideals already being incorporated into Eastern Europe. All in all, the Roman Empire shows how it takes a large, powerful force to make lasting changes to history. The crusades had many lasting effects for both the west and the east. First off, the early victories helped to strengthen the self-confidence of the medieval west. These people had always been on the defensive against the Islam's. New goods, not seen by the west before the crusades helped to spur trade among both sides. Crusaders themselves also inherited some knowledge from traveling the lands, increasing their intelligence. However, the most important of all the changes that arose from the crusaders, is that western monarchies could now tax the clergy. This advance helped to stimulate the growth of administrating institutions for new nation-states. Another powerful force that forever changed history was The Hundred Year's War. This war raged between England and France, from the year 1337 to 1453. Even though it is called The Hundred Year War, it only consisted of many small wars that lasted over a period of one hundred years. These wars had a great impact on the lives of almost every person living in Western Europe. It effected the people in a way that no single person could have. This conflict started for many different reasons, but the man one being that the French king died without leaving an heir to the thrown. Since there was no ruler to supersede the king, the English king claimed the thrown for himself. The English King backed this up by stating that since both the former French king and himself were Capetians, that he should be able to lay claim. This feud is what started The Hundred Year War. It
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Approximate Word count = 1387
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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